Guardian
by MishaCollinsEnglishDictionary
Summary: Maya is a guardian angel in training, and Castiel is her teacher. With the help of the Winchester brothers, he will teach her all about humans. But it takes something more for her to fully understand human emotions, and Dean can help her there.


**Guardian**

**Chapter one**

"Uh, Hi?"

Dean spun around and in a second his knife was in his hand.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked gruffly, trying to ignore her wide grey eyes, the shiny, nut brown hair that cascaded around her shoulders, and the scattered freckles, like stardust on her delicate face.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, staring at the knife intently, "I'm Maya," she said softly. "I was sent to meet Castiel."

"Cas? Who sent you to meet Cas?" Dean asked, lowering his guard slightly.

"My teacher," she muttered distractedly, still staring at the knife.

"Your teacher? Mind elaborating a bit?" Dean asked, putting away the knife, annoyed at her inability to focus on their conversation with it in his hand.

"I just need to talk to Castiel." She stated, shifting her gaze to Dean for the first time. Her unblinking eyes held Dean for a moment, he was captivated by them.

"Uh, right," He said, snapping out of his trance. "But who are you?"

"It's alright Dean," said a deep, calm voice behind Dean. He spun around again and found himself uncomfortably close to Cas.

"Whoa, personal space." Dean muttered, stepping away from the two figures who now took up most of the small motel room's kitchen.

"Maya." Cas greeted her warmly; he stepped towards her smiling and hugged her.

"What are you doing?!" Maya asked, wide eyed and stiff in Cas' arms.

"Ah yes, I forgot why you were sent!" Cas said, releasing her.

"I don't suppose either of you could fill me in?" Dean asked, getting more and more annoyed.

"Of course," Cas said, turning to face Dean. "Maya has been sent here from heaven to learn!"

"Heaven? She's an angel?" Dean asked, glancing at Maya, and quickly looking back at Cas, embarrassed by her stare.

"Yes," Cas said, "She is here to learn."

"Learn what?"

"To live of course!" Cas replied, beaming at him.

"Uh, what?" Dean asked, not understanding what was happening.

"I am here so Castiel can teach me how to be like humans." Maya interrupted. "It is part of my training to become a guardian angel. For how can I protect those that I do not understand?"

"Wait you're here to learn how to be normal from _Cas?_" Dean chuckled, "Well, good luck sister!"

"I don't understand." Maya said, looking quizzically at Cas, "What does he mean?"

"He is making a joke Maya." Replied Cas, looking slightly annoyed at Dean's implications.

"Oh" was all Maya said in response. A very long silence ensued. Dean felt more and more uncomfortable as Maya continued to stare at him, curiously.

"Where is Sam?" Cas asked.

"Huh? Oh, he's gone to get some snacks from the shop." Dean said, grateful for the interruption. "Do you need me to call him to pick up something more?"

"Not for me," Cas replied, "But Maya could use some education about human food."

"Uh, sure." Said Dean, flipping open his mobile, he pressed the speed dial for Sam and waited, having yet another staring contest with Maya.

"Hey, Dean, What's up?" Came Sam's voice from the other end of the phone.

"Hey there Sam, I'm gonna need you to pick up enough food for one more"

"What? Why? Who's there?" Sam asked.

"It's a little tricky to explain, just get some extra stuff, make it healthy I guess and I'll explain when you get back." Dean flipped his phone shut again and sighed, this was gonna be an interesting night.

"Finally!" Dean said standing up from the sofa where he had spent the last 20 minutes completely overwhelmed by Maya's relentless torrent of questions, as Sam entered the small room and put the groceries down on the old, wooden table by the door.

Between them, Dean and Cas filled Sam in, while Maya stared, silently from the sofa.

"So she's gonna stay with us?" Sam asked

"Yes," said Cas, "I'm hoping you can help me teach her.

"We'd be happy to." Dean replied quickly.

"Brilliant!" exclaimed Maya suddenly, causing everyone to look at her. "Where do we start?"

**Chapter two**

A few months passed. Sam and Dean worked jobs, Cas did his best to teach Maya how to understand humans, and often Dean would pitch in too.

Maya learned to cook, use a mobile, fire a gun and hold normal conversations. She learned a lot about human culture; music, books and films. She learned the hard way that humans have certain times when they need to sleep, by cranking the television up to full volume at 3:30 am one night. And Dean even let her drive the impala once, but she nearly crashed in to a tree, panicking and disappearing right before impact, leaving Dean to yank the steering wheel around at the last second. Needless to say, she hasn't driven since.

She also learned not to perform miracles in front of unsuspecting humans when she turned a bowl of salad in to a replica of the burger Dean was eating right in the middle of a crowded diner. Much to Cas' annoyance.

Slowly, but surely, Maya had become part of the Winchesters' lives, and it was hard for them to imagine what life was like before her arrival. Before they had her randomly bursting in to song while practicing her cooking, or dancing wildly to the radio in the impala, and nearly causing Dean to crash he was laughing so hard. But all good things must come to an end; little did they know how abrupt it would be.

Dean woke suddenly one night. He turned over and saw the small alarm clock on his bedside table read 2:26 am. He groaned, and was just about to bury his face in his pillow and go back to sleep when he heard low voices from the other room. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and listened.

"-But I don't understand. Have I done something wrong?" He heard Maya's voice, small and scared.

"No of course not, it is simply time for your training to end." Dean stiffened; he didn't recognise the second voice. "It's time to go." The voice continued.

"Can I at least say goodbye?" Maya pleaded with the voice.

"No." Came the reply. A piercing scream sounded and was cut short. Dean threw himself out of bed, grabbing his gun and hurled himself through the door. But she was already gone, the book she had been reading lying open on the floor.

**Chapter 3**

"This isn't right." Cas said, frowning. "Are you sure that's what they said?"

"Yes!" replied Dean, exasperated.

"Hmmm, odd. I'm sure I would have been informed if Maya was to be taken away. I wonder who it was who took her." Pondered Cas, sitting heavily on the sofa.

"I don't give a rat ass who took her!" Yelled Dean, pacing back and forward across the tiny room, "I only care about getting her back."

"There's no way she was supposed to be leaving." Interjected Sam. "She wasn't even close to understanding humans. Just the other day, she asked me why we didn't just fly everywhere!" Dean smiled sadly at the memory, he remembered telling her that his baby was his wings, she'd kept asking about it, but he'd told her he would explain later. He never got the chance.

"We've got to find her." Dean stated, stopping in front of Cas. "She could be in danger."

"I agree," Cas added, standing up again, "But I have no idea how we'll find her. We don't know what took her, we don't know where it took her, and we don't know why!"

"I don't care." Dean replied, looking Cas straight in the eye. "She's family now, and we don't leave family behind." Cas just nodded in response.

"Heard you could use some help." Came a voice from behind Sam. Sam jumped up from the stool he'd been perched on and backed away towards Dean and Cas.

"Balthazar?" Sam and Dean asked together.

"Hello." Balthazar replied, a broad grin on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Cas asked.

"I have information on the whereabouts of your student." He replied gleefully, rubbing his hands together in delight

"Where is she?" Yelled Dean, starting towards Balthazar. "Did you take her?" Balthazar disappeared from where he'd been standing and reappeared at the opposite side of the room.

"Tut tut Dean, violence won't get you anywhere." He scolded. "I didn't touch a hair on her pretty, little head."

"Then who took her?" Dean pleaded, "please, we just want to get her back."

"I have been reliably informed that Zachariah had a hand in her disappearance." Balthazar answered.

"Zachariah." Dean gritted his teeth, "I should've guessed that son of a bitch would have something to do with this! I'm gonna rip his lungs out!" He bellowed.

"Why are you telling us this Balthazar?" Cas asked, "What do you want from us?"

"Nothing Castiel! I'm telling you simply out of the goodness of my heart!" Balthazar replied, a mock, hurt expression on his face. Dean laughed cynically. "We are friends Castiel." Balthazar continued, his face completely serious. "I haven't forgotten what you did for me." And with that, he vanished.

"He could be lying to us." Said Dean

"Yeah, it could be a trap." Added Sam.

"No," Cas shook his head, "He speaks the truth."

"How do you know?" Dean asked.

"Because Balthazar doesn't like being in anyone's debt," said Cas, turning to Dean. "I know where Maya will be."

**Chapter 4**

Three figures appeared out of nowhere in the darkness of an underground room. It was the dead of night, and the whole place was completely silent, it was almost too quiet. Sam looked around him, trying to figure out where they were, but Dean recognised it immediately.

"Oh God, not here. Tell me she's not here Cas." Dean whispered, the words catching in his throat.

"I'm afraid it is more than likely that Zachariah brought her here, even if she isn't here anymore." Cas replied.

"I don't understand," Said Sam, "Where are we?"

"The angelic torture room." Dean spat, "The place they kept Alistair."

"Oh, oh God." Sam muttered as he realised what that meant.

"Let's get going, the quicker we find her the better."

The three figures moved soundlessly across the darkened room, weapons raised, muscles tensed. They came to a large, metal door, Cas tried to open it. Locked. Dean knelt next to the door, pulled out his lock pick and got to work. The door clicked, and slowly, Dean pushed open the door. Immediately they could see a warm, flickering light coming from inside, and as they walked in to the room, they could see it was a circle of holy fire, and in the middle strapped to a table, gagged and covered in blood and bruises, was Maya.

"Maya." Said Dean, his voice a mixture of relief and concern. Cas started towards the table, and Maya made a sort of muffled yell. Her eyes opened wide, she struggled desperately against the ropes, but to no avail. Cas stopped, realising what she was trying to say. But before he could back away towards the door, a second ring of holy fire appeared, surrounding him, and he stood helpless in the middle of it. Sam and Dean started forward to help him, but were restrained by angels that appeared suddenly behind them.

"Well, well, well." Came a cold, gloating voice from behind the table Maya was tied to, out stepped Zachariah, a sickening grin on his face. "Fancy meeting you here boys."

**Chapter 5**

"Zachariah, you sick son of a bitch!" Dean shouted, "What have you done to her?!"

"Still got that temper I see Dean," Zachariah responded, walking around Cas' ring of holy fire and standing in front of dean, "it's really not an attractive quality."

"Go to hell." Dean spat. Zachariah simply turned around and walked over to Maya's ring of holy fire. He snapped his fingers and the flames were immediately extinguished. Maya struggled more than ever against the ties, but they were too strong.

Zachariah stepped forward and stroked a strand of her hair, she winced and tried to pull away.

"Get away from her!" bellowed Dean.

"No," said Zachariah simply. "I am doing this to punish Castiel, he does so hate to see his pets upset." He chuckled "Now, now, hold still Maya, this is going to twinge a bit" Zachariah taunted. With that he thrust his angel sword in to her side, and Maya's muffled screams filled the chamber. Zachariah twisted the sword, burying it deeper in to her stomach, and a blinding white light appeared around it.

"NO!" Dean howled, he elbowed one of the angels holding him in the face, and swiftly turned and kicked the other in the stomach.

"Dean!" Cas shouted, throwing him his angel sword. Dean caught the sword and plunged it in to the first angel's chest, pulling it out and using it to slit the second angel's throat. Sam, meanwhile, had kicked the legs out from under one angel and was currently wrestling with a second. Dean threw the sword to Sam who jabbed it in to the angel's stomach. The turned and stabbed it in to the second angel's back.

The brothers ran forwards together, Sam returned the sword to Dean then hit the fire alarm and a siren began to blare. Dean sprinted forwards and tried to stab Zachariah in the heart, but he caught his wrist and they wrestled for control of the weapon. Suddenly the sprinklers came on and put out the holy fire trapping Cas. Cas ran forward, pulled a dagger from a pocket of one of the dead angels, then disappeared, and reappeared behind Zachariah.

"Don't you dare," whispered Cas, plunging the sword in to Zachariah's back, "hurt my friends." Zachariah's grip on Dean slackened, and Dean stepped away. Cas pulled the dagger out of Zachariah's back and let him slide to the floor where he lay motionless.

Dean turned immediately and untied Maya and took the gag out of her mouth. Cas appeared at his side and slowly pulled the dagger out of Maya's side, she whimpered softly, but remained still. For a moment she stared straight up in to Dean's eyes, and extraordinary green sank in to mesmerising grey. Then her eyelids fluttered shut, and she was still.

**Chapter 6**

Four people reappeared in the motel room they had been staying in. A stony silence between them. Dean put Maya down on one of the beds, and sat heavily on to the one next to it. Cas stepped forward and placed one hand on Maya's forehead and the other over the wound in her side. He closed his eyes, brow furrowed in concentration.

"This may take a moment, but she should be ok." Cas said, not opening his eyes. Dean sighed and leant back against the pillows. Sam went in to the kitchen and came back with two beers, he passed one to Dean then sat on a chair and opened his own beer, drinking deeply. Dean, however, did not open his beer.

"Cas?" he asked.

"Yes Dean?" Cas replied distractedly.

"What did Zachariah mean 'to punish you'? Why did he do this?" There was a long silence, then Cas sighed.

"The same reason Balthazar helped us." He answered. "I helped Balthazar track down and kill some of Zachariah's men, because they had killed some members of Balthazar's garrison."

"So this whole thing," Dean said, teeth gritted, "was just revenge?" Another silence.

"Yes."

Dean sat up, and was about to say something, when Maya's eyes fluttered open, and she breathed in sharply.

"Dean?" she asked weakly.

"I'm here," Dean replied immediately, "You're safe now."

"Oh good, I had the most horrible dream Dean," she yawned, "I'll tell you about it tomorrow."

"Ok," Dean said, crying a single tear for her innocence, "tomorrow."

That night Dean dreamt that they danced together. They danced to a slow, soft song Dean had never heard before. She wrapped her hands around him and buried her face in his chest.

"I love you." He said.

"Tomorrow." She replied.

**Chapter 7**

Dean woke the next day well past lunch, once again to the sound of voices. He looked to his right and saw Maya sleeping in the bed next to his. He yawned, stretched and heaved himself out of bed. He padded in to the next room and saw Sam, Cas and two people he didn't know talking. He tensed, ready for a fight, but Cas knew what he was thinking.

"They're not here to fight us Dean. They are angels."

"Oh, ok. That doesn't make them friendly." Dean muttered.

"They're here," Sam told him, "To assign Maya to someone."

"What?" Dean asked, confused, "Assign? What?"

"She is ready." one of the angels said.

"Yes," said the other. "She has completed her training."

"Wait," Dean said as that sunk in, "You mean to say that we're gonna lose her again, just when we got her back!?" He shouted.

"Not exactly dean," Cas said, "hear them out." Dean stared at Cas horrified, but Cas gave him a reassuring smile, and he turned back to the angels.

"Maya's training was only complete when she understood all aspects of humans. She was an incredible student, she understood your culture, your habits, and your thought processes almost immediately." Said the first angel.

"But she didn't understand human emotions," the second angel continued, "because she had never experienced them. Last night she experienced hope, fear, pain, relief, love…" he let that last word hang in the air for a moment, "the works." He finished.

"So now she is ready." Cas concluded.

"I can't lose her." Dean whispered, he begged Cas, needing him to understand.

"And you won't." Cas grinned.

"Dean," said the first angel, "We are assigning her to you. If anyone needs a guardian angel it's you, and you two share a bond that cannot be ignored." Dean was stunned, he couldn't speak. He looked over at Sam, who was smiling in a tired sort of way.

"What's going on?" asked Maya from the doorway, fear and confusion on her face.

"Maya." Said Dean, he walked over to her, and took both of her hands in his. "I want to tell you why humans don't just fly everywhere."

"Really?" She asked, "ok."

"It's because we don't have wings," Dean explained. She stared up into his face, her eyes sad. "which is why we need guardian angels, we need you to be our wings."

"Oh." She said, like she finally understood.

"And Maya, You are my wings."


End file.
